This invention relates to electrical connectors used to connect the heating element of a heating unit installed in a water heater or the like, and more particularly, to a quick connect terminal and terminal block which provides a simplified way of connecting electrical leads to the heating element, this being accomplished without the use of screwdrivers or similar type tools.
Heating units used in water heaters are well-known in the art. Conventional units include a screwplug which is screwed into a threaded opening in a sidewall of a water heater tank. The heating element has an elongate U-shape and extends well into the interior of the tank. Terminal ends of the heating element extend through the screwplug for electrical leads to be connected to the respective ends of the heating element. These connections have heretofore typically been made by soldering an end of the lead to an end of the heating element, by wrapping a portion of the lead about a screw and threading the screw into a threaded hole using a screwdriver, or by otherwise permanently connecting the two together. A drawback with these previous techniques is that they involve a great deal of manual labor which adds to the time and cost of completion of the assembly.